Makeunder My Life

Hello! My, has it been a while! I am so thankful to have had Heidi and Kelsey guest writing while I have been preparing for this move. They will continue to post until I am settled in next week.

As for my life lately… I officially begin moving my stuff into my new apartment tomorrow morning. Over the past week or two I’ve been busy preparing for the move, buying new furniture, decorating the space over and over in my head, and enjoying the last few weeks living with Erwin. It has been one heck of an emotional roller coaster, let me tell you. Sleeping has become a relatively distant memory. But I’ve had the most amazing support system of friends to help me privately through the hard (and extremely hard) parts. Prayer and meditation have helped as well.

I have a few little updates to fill you in on the shop and the apartment transformation:

The Jess LC  Update: Franklin Pendants Arrived! + Shop Temporary Closing

Franklin Pendants

The new Franklin pendants arrived! I’m thrilled to say that you can now go on and order your pendant with the corrected braille. And though the whole misspelling ordeal was not ideal, these new pedants were worth the wait. We now have them Palladium plated (they are still vermeil [gold coated sterling silver], but Palladium is a bit fancier than nickle-plating) and our guys did a great job with these new pieces.

Fall Samples + Photoshoot

We also got our fall pendants in, and they are awesome. I can’t wait to shoot the lookbook on September, 11th. A certain super secret fashion blogger is flying in from Texas with her husband to model for the shoot!

Temporary Shop Closing

And during the move, I am “closing the shop” so that I can get everything situated properly. Which means orders placed between now and Labor Day will be filled next week after Tuesday.

Apartment Transformation

Literally three hours ago after a morning run walk with my friend Cathy (hi, Cathy!), I came back to my apartment building to find this little guy sitting on the curb. Up to this point, I have been unable to find the perfect bedside table for the new place, and I’d decided to just move in and wait until I found the right size/shape. But this over sized nightstand had my name all over it for the right price: FREE. I’ve been pining after the glamorous white and gold campaign dressers I’ve seen in the pages of Lonny and this puppy is going to get a head to toe makeover! To be continued…

In the meantime, this is what my bedroom looks like currently. Pretty glam, right? I kid, I kid. These few pieces will be making their way to my new place bright and early tomorrow. In the meantime, sleeping on the ground is kind of odd.

I should also mention that I’ve turned the apartment into an Ikea Lack factory over the past two days. After a huge blowout trip to Ikea on Sunday with a friend, I have been building bookshelves faster than you can imagine. I promise, they all will should fit in the new place. And they will should look amazing.

Phew. I’m exhausted. I think it’s time for a nap.

And again, thanks for sending the kind thoughts my way; I have soaked every single one in and I can feel the grace.

Can I please just start off by saying that I’m terribly nervous to be here?  I’m kind of equating Jess letting me guest blog for today to that idiot “pants on the ground” guy on American Idol.  Not talented, but should probably be shown to America in order to be mocked continuously.  Hopefully I will crush this prospect and wow all of you amazing followers with wit, charm, and maybe even more guest posts in the future!

Now that we are familiar with one another, why don’t I tell you why I’m here?  I live in Washington, DC and I am a twenty-something who loves food and fashion but on a budget.  Wanna be friends? Great!  I reached out to Jess not only because I read her blog religiously but also because I think I could offer some advice on MMLing from another perspective.  I’d like to think I’m a combination of Jess and Heidi; I don’t like clutter but I love buying pretty things (Jess) and I love to love myself but sometimes I forget to (Heidi).

I think what I would like to write about is the dos and don’ts of making yourself smile.  Everyday.

Do:

• Have confidence in your abilities
• Give yourself space to take breaks every now and then
• Start your to-do list with a task you’ve already done
• Begin thinking about lunch at 9:35 A.M
• Be truthful about your own feelings. If you are happy, acknowledge the joy. If you are sad, acknowledge the sorrow
• Put cheese on top of any meal, it just makes it better

Don’t

• Question your abilities- if you haven’t noticed, you rock.
• Be afraid of not knowing the answer, the future, or all of the above
• Worry about the number on the scale- worry if you look too freakin’ gorgeous for work
• Try to please everyone, you will always be disappointed
• Burn the popcorn
• Put yourself down.  Ever.

These are just the start of some things that I think are so important to remind yourself of today.  We all have busy schedules, invitations, meetings, stressful relationships; sometimes it’s hard to balance and focus.  Hey, it’s OK!  Delegate the tasks that you can, I know you’re Superwoman but didn’t you know that’s why they gave her a cape?  So she can fly over all of her tasks and to-dos and look at the big picture from above. Everything will get done.  If you read MML then I know you already take pride in your work and worry about disappointing others from time to time.  Remember, worry causes wrinkles and let’s be honest, you can dress up or dress down Jess LC’s collection, but do you really want to do it with worry lines?  Exactly.  Smile.

Like Kelsey?  You can find also find her at thecapitalbarbie.blogspot.com

Hi everyone!  I’m starting with a bang – I got the logo designs!!  It was like Christmas morning when I opened that email to see the first round of logos.  All the ideas and possibilities!  Oh.My.God…all the ideas and possibilities!  I truly had no idea how difficult this would end up being.  And I wish right now that I was handling things more gracefully.  I don’t know if it’s the realization that I’m actually doing this or that I’m getting closer and closer to opening the store or that it’s now decision time….but I’m now at a level 10 freak out!  For awhile, I was just barely keeping up with my to-do list.  Now that I’m down to about 6-7 weeks until opening, I am 100% completely & utterly swamped – and since it doesn’t look like my magic genie is about to show up anytime soon, I’m not sure how I’m going to get everything done.  How is it possible that my to-do list is growing?  And even worse?  A new fear has crept up on me…the fear of expectation.

It’s been so wonderful to feel the support from everyone and know that you’re behind me.  At the same time when I see “can’t wait to see your logo” or “can’t wait to start shopping”, although it completely warms my heart, in creep the doubts…what ARE people expecting?  What if my store doesn’t meet these expectations?  Will they be disappointed?  And that even goes for something as simple as my logo – what are people expecting?

image credit – Parker Fitzgerald

This all came about because I’m starting to phase from the planning stage to the decision making stage.  I can plan for the logo all I want – but at some point I need to actually have one.  (and apparently it’s best practice to only have one logo) But you can’t ask an indecisive perfectionist to decide on something like this!!  There should be rules against this.  My logo designer gave me wonderful ideas – about 7 different logos in different variations for the first round.  I had to somehow narrow down the logos from 27 different ideas/variations.  What?  To be honest, I was able to nix about 7 of them right away – they just weren’t me. But the other 20?  Such great ideas!  But which one is one sydney road?  Which one is me?  And which one would people like?  See – expectations!

At this point, I think my poor logo designer is wondering what she signed up for – I’m starting to wonder if I’m the bridezilla of logos!!  She has been unbelievably patient and understanding as I’ve gone back and forth between logos.  Out of the first round logo ideas – I only narrowed it down to 4!  I kept asking myself – what is my gut saying?  Well, apparently my gut has gone on vacation because I’m not receiving any kind of help there.  Here’s my gut reaction…”I like all these logos.”  Not very helpful.  So my logo designer took the 4 ideas and then sent me variations on those…with color.  You mean now I have to decide on color too?  And the font??  The second round was worse than the first – there’s so many possibilities!!  I had given her ideas for colors – yellow, chocolate brown, grey, navy blue, light blue.  Except we all know that each color has a bazillion hues – it’s like picking paint for your walls (don’t even get me started on how difficult that is for me!)

I was able to narrow it down to 2 different and distinct logo ideas.  She came back with some variations on those and then  it became time to pick just one.  50/50 – which one??  How do I possibly decide?  And this of course has now become wrapped up in me being able to decide everything else.  Because at the same time I’m working on the logo, I’m also having to make decisions on products for the store.  No more dreaming and putting images together of all the possible products I can have for the store – now I have to dig deep and say “yay” or “nay” to not only artists but individual products.  If a designer has 10 different pillow designs – do I get all 10 or pick out a few designs?  That’s what I’m in the midst of figuring out.

Let’s face it – I’m in decision overload.  Think a Magic 8 ball could help me?  Somehow I think I’d just keep getting the answer “ask again later”!  And of course I’m wondering…what do people want to see in my store?  What will they like?  Those great expectations again!!  I’m realizing that when you’re just starting out, it’s part research, part up in the air.  So until I know my customer more, I have to go with items I love.  It has to start with me.  I’m using that as my filter right now.  Does it pass the “I’d buy it” test?  That’s part of what my store is offering…my “eye” so to speak, my ability to curate and select items that work well together.

If only I could use that for my logo!  I think what has made this task harder is that it’s not just the logo I’m deciding on – it’s really about deciding on the whole look – colors, fonts & shapes which will be used not only on the logo but also on the website and packaging.  I just today got my 3rd round of logo and business card ideas.  And, you know what?  I’m finally starting to see it!  Doesn’t mean I’ve decided – but I’m one step closer.  In fact by the time you read this – I should have my logo!  Next up – deciding on designers & products.  Anyone have any good strategies for decision making?

Hello again MML readers.  It’s Heidi from To Be Luminous again.  One of the questions I get most often is why I call my coaching practice “To Be Luminous.”  Recently I’ve written a Luminous Acclamation- a manifesto so to speak that defines what a luminous woman is and what my practice represents.
Enjoy!  And don’t forget to enter the give away for six weeks of free coaching or contact me about my six week coaching sale.  Have an amazing day.
-Heidi

Luminous Acclamation

A luminous woman glows from the inside out, radiating light, warmth and energy that is undeniable and magnetic.  She is fabulously unique and unlike anyone you’ve ever met, because she  is herself, from the crown of her head to the tip of her toes.  She lives aligned with her values.  There are no facades for the luminous woman!

A luminous woman knows when to be still and knows when to laugh out loud.  She is both lively and serene, but whatever the occasion, she is perfectly alive.  She balances her life thoughtfully processing her moments and days as needed, yet lives with wild abandon often.

A luminous woman lights up a room because she is the most phenomenal version of herself.  She doesn’t strive to be anyone else.  She is a perfect blend of all those unique  and quirky characteristics that define her.  She has that magnetic ability to appear perfectly herself in any situation.

A luminous woman is luminous 100 percent of the time regardless of her circumstances.  She is the thermometer and allows everyone else to adjust to her temperature.  She’s accommodating and loving, and she is confident enough to think more of others before herself.

A luminous woman understands that she needs to take care of her needs in order to help those around her.  She takes time to center herself daily to fortify her from the natural storms of life and to ensure she is able to listen to her inner-intuitive voice.  This voice is what helps her serenely navigate through even the most tumultuous times and is what helps her know what events, changes and obstacles in life are important, and which ones can be left behind.

A luminous woman knows who she is and that she has something unique to offer the world.  She understands that each individual she comes in contact with has something of value to offer her, and never repudiates anyone for any apparent differences or flaws.

A luminous woman is pure inside and out.  She’s not perfect, but she is beautifully authentic.  She doesn’t pose or pretend to be anything she is not.  She is comfortable with her life yet continually strives for something better, knowing that it is in the process of reaching that miracles occur.

A luminous woman is kind.  A luminous woman accepts others for who they are and who they are not.  She allows everyone room to grow and to change and allows herself the same opportunity.  She speaks encouraging words to herself and to others.

A luminous woman understands that there is enough darkness and negativity in the world.  She is willing to take a stand for joy, laughter, and uplifting everyone around her. She seeks serenity, energy, personal discovery, value alignment, and confidence.  A luminous woman is a woman of action and determination.  She is always in the mode of accomplishing something of great worth.

[Photos courtesy of istock]

Photo credit: Matt Smith/James Breeden/PacificCoastNews.com

This just in! My PR ladies sent me an email last night saying that they found photos of Ali Fedotowsky, of this season’s The Bachelorette walking with her fiancé, Roberto while wearing a Jess LC Franklin Be Present Necklace!

I was shocked, thrilled, and so happy to know that she loves the necklace as much as I do! I wear the same one, the Be Present with a pearl, everyday myself.

In other news…

I’d also like to give a little update about MML. I can safely say that this move and transition in my life is starting to hit me and I’m feeling a roller coaster of emotions. And in typical Jess fashion, I’m going to give myself some time to go through whatever I’m feeling and then come out later when I’m ready and share what I’ve learned here on MML. In the meantime, I’ve decided to invite a few guest writers to come in and share their inspiring ideas for the next week or two. This way I can take care of myself properly and then come back to MML better than ever (kind of like the old “put the oxygen mask on your face before helping others”).